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Delhi: Home Minister P. Chidambaram has sought unstinted support of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to effectively tackle the Maoists. Soon after the first major Maoist attack targeting civilians travelling in a bus in Dantewada, Chidambaram met Singh and reiterated the need for air support which had become imperative, not for the air strikes, but for the safe and swift movement of security personnel and also for dropping reinforcements in Maoist-infested areas.

According to sources, Chidambaram had not yet sought the help of the army in fighting the Naxals. What the home minister wanted was unequivocal support from the Government and the Congress. He felt shackled by the different voices from within the Government. It had only served to lower the morale of the personnel, who felt increasingly like fodder for the Maoists.

Chidambaram also believed that the debating strategies should not be done through the media. Arguments over whether the Government decides on using excessive power against its own people, issues of whether development should precede or go hand in hand with armed action and whether a hardline works best had to be done within governmental walls. "Too much transparency has proved to be detrimental with the Maoists attacking at will,'' said a home ministry official.

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